Author's Note: Hi guys. Sorry this ended up being really late. My Nanna ended up passing away early Christmas morning. Which is kind of fitting because of what a huge Christian she was, but not the best for the rest of us in the holiday season. The funeral was yesterday. So I might take a week for next chapter too because we're all in a bit of a state right now. Don't worry, I didn't push too hard to get this chapter done because I wanted it to at least have some quality although I doubt it's up to par with some of the latest chapters. Please read, review, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own Sherlock. The show is the baby of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, while Sherlock Holmes itself is the creation of Arthur Conan Doyle.

The First Week of Maternity Leave

Technically Anthea wasn't supposed to be at the office today. Technically her maternity leave was supposed to start today. Technically it could have even started yesterday on Monday. But Katie was coming in this early afternoon and Anthea wanted to be there to help her get settled in and make sure to answer any last minute questions she might have. The young lady wasn't going to be doing much and technically she had proven herself capable and able to remember everything on Friday when Anthea last saw her, but technical be damned. Anthea wanted everything running as smoothly as possible before she left so then nothing could be blamed on her. Also she just liked being at the office but that was neither here nor there.

"So if you have any questions, any questions at all, call or text me." Anthea said to Katie. Katie had her hair out today. She'd clearly worn her blouse to university today and then tried to dress it up with a tailored suit jacket. She still looked lovely but Anthea could swear that girl could be a model with how clothes looked on her. She wasn't striking in the way Charlotte was, or even Jamie and Anthea's level of beauty, in fact she was a little plain but those long elegant limbs she could walk any runway. Jamie always said she had a face that make up could transform only adding to their idea that she could be a model. They'd shared that thought with Carol once who got kind of flustered and embarrassed at the idea that her daughter could do such a thing. James loved seeing those emotions on her.

"I know." Katie said politely with a bit of a sigh and a bit of a smile. She was placating Anthea, she was humouring her and Anthea knew it. Anthea didn't care, she was delaying it after all.

"And if you need me to come do something I'll be here in a second." Anthea said. Katie nodded appreciatively. "Someone turns up that you don't know how to handle, Mr Holmes gives you a weird job, or you don't know where to put something, anything."

"I know." Katie laughed. She smiled wide. "I promise I won't need to, but I know I can do it."

"Never say never here." Anthea rolled her eyes. "Like I know you're just here for files and phones but you'd be surprised at what comes up." Anthea sighed. "Like James or Sherlock turning up uninvited or scheduled. That happens all the time and it's always them."

"I can kick James out easily." Katie waved it off with a confident expression and a shrug of her shoulders. She'd known the big goof longer than Anthea had after all.

"Sherlock is harder to get rid of." Anthea warned.

"I'll be fine!" Katie whined teasingly. Anthea rolled her eyes again. "Please go home and relax."

"I've got plenty of time to do that. Let me help you with the computer programs-"

"You showed me."

"Yeah okay, but you've got to-"

"Regularly change the passwords, I know!" Katie folded her arms across her chest. "Anthea!"

"Katie!" Anthea teased her by whining back.

"I'm only here for a few hours today, it's cool, I've got it." She said. Anthea's eyes narrowed on the young lady as she thought about it. Yeah, she did seem to have it together. But – "Go home!"

"Fine." Anthea spat, finally defeated. "Just let me say goodbye to Mycroft and then I'll leave you to ruin my desk." Katie laughed and Anthea smirked playfully. Anthea was going to miss this place so much. She just needed to remember she'd be back home here eventually. If this didn't kill her.

So the first day, rather half a day, at home wasn't so bad. Anthea didn't have any work to do, she had done it all while at the office in the morning. She honestly just sat down and watched some television for a few hours in the afternoon. It had felt like an eternity since Anthea had done that. Nothing that required concentration – just good old reruns of sitcoms. Roseanne, Fawlty Towers, Friends, Keeping up Appearances, Frasier, there was quite a variety on the television package Mycroft paid for but never used. It was fun and reminded Anthea of being a kid and having nothing better to do late at night then turn the telly on and watch it quietly without waking anyone. Well, that and read something.

Then, with the hour or so before Mycroft got home Anthea cooked dinner. Mycroft made fun of Anthea's atrocious cooking but she had looked after herself for many years. To be fair to Mycroft it wasn't hard to do a stir fry but to be fair to Anthea it was a pretty good stir fry. Mycroft even ended up having some for dinner and while not praising her wildly he told her it wasn't bad.

The day really left Anthea feeling that this might not be too bad. Maybe she could learn to cook better for the baby's sake.

The next day, Wednesday, was not as fulfilling. There was work to be done, sure, but when you didn't have other tasks to do other than what could be done at a computer it went by quickly. A couple of hours of working in bed and Anthea was done. There was nothing left that had to be completed immediately unless an urgent email came in and everyone had already been told to try and get hold of Mycroft first right now and only contact Anthea if they couldn't.

So what was there to do? Anthea read. Well, she read through lunch and for a little while afterwards but when you could read as much as you wanted when you wanted you didn't feel as obliged to read as much as possible in your free time. Anthea decided it was probably a good idea to save the rest of this book for tomorrow.

What could she do now? Housework? Mycroft might kill her if he found out she was vacuuming or mopping in her free time when he wanted her to be comfortable and he could pay someone to do it. She could probably get away with dusting and he wouldn't even notice. The bookshelves in the office were gathering dust and it was probably a good idea not to have any dust in the baby's room. So that's what Anthea did. Then, while in the baby's room, she got stuck at the bookshelf. All the books had been put there – by her – with no real order or thought. Now she had time to notice she felt like they just had to be organised. Alphabetically by author would make the most sense and Mycroft would approve.

Unfortunately dusting and the bookshelf only took an hour and a half.

Even worse they still had left over stir fry from the previous night so there was no point adventuring in the kitchen.

…

Anthea finished her book just as Mycroft got home.

It was thanks to Wednesday's reorganisation of the baby's bookshelf that on Thursday Anthea worked out exactly what she could do with her time off before the baby comes. Prepare for the baby better! Why hadn't she thought about it before? Well, because she wasn't very maternal but at least she had thought of it now.

To be fair to her and Mycroft the baby's room was almost entirely done. They still needed to stockpile on nappy's and get together one of those baby bags Jamie was always toting around or asking Anthea if she had gotten together, but they were pretty good. One thing they had yet to do though was baby proof. This house was not a safe place for any child or infant and that was clear to see. There were weapons on the wall, sharp objects everywhere, strange objects, not to mention the normal things like the stairs and power-points.

Maybe Mycroft had already thought of that but Anthea doubted he'd like to see his empty dreary house covered in safety plastic with little gates on the stairs. Where's the menace and grandeur in that? Even as she thought about it now Anthea could see Mycroft grimacing in her mind. This place was never meant to have children in it. It was not decorated with other people living here in mind, let alone children of all things. His voice was clear in her head and instead of making her upset it actually made her smile. Why? Because that was so him and so perfect and yet he was pushing himself aside and letting all these things happen to his house. Someone else who didn't know Mycroft might not get it but anyone who knew him well would. James would get it, John would get it, even Jamie. Hey, even Tim might get it.

Anthea made a list of all the things she had to do before the baby came. Things that needed to be bought or made or ordered, it was all there.

The first task to be accomplished was baby proofing!

So she called a company and organised for them to come in.

On Monday.

That was their earliest appointment.

Well… That's all she could do about that for now then. It's not like she could haggle about time and date she would be home anyway.

Anthea jumped online and ordered some really cute baby clothes. At least she could do that and feel accomplished knowing they'd be delivered soon.

One and a half things crossed off the list? One and a third, maybe?

What am I supposed to do with myself? Three days and I'm bored! – A.

Gah! You should have told me you were on leave already! We could hang out all the time! – Jamie x.

Okay, when are you free? – A.

Um… Not the rest of the week. Saturday I am but ahh, that's not a work day :/. – Jamie x.

-_-. –A.

Some help you are. – A.

What about Monday? We can do lunch? Like every Monday! And try new places! – Jamie x.

Please! That'll at least give me something to look forward to in this dull life every week. – A.

OMG! This is going to be great! We can keep it going when the baby is born! Them and Hope will have memories of it! Yay! – Jamie x.

I thought you loved being at home? What's up? – A.

Oh! I do! I love looking after Hope! – Jamie x.

It's just… Remember when we could only see each other a few times a year? How much we missed each other? – Jamie x.

Ah, yeah. – A.

Now we can be Monday lunch buddies every Monday! – Jamie x.

:D. – Jamie x.

I'm so glad you're in London. – A.

3. – Jamie x.

Dude? What's this about lunch buddies? That's not fair! I want in. – James.

How about I bother you at the office from time to time? – A.

Bring food and you've got a deal. – James.

Sometimes food. – A.

Sometimes food, always caffeinated beverages. – James.

Always food, the beverages once I can drink them. – A.

Deal. – James.

On Friday Anthea decided to take drastic measure and put matters into her own hands.

Firstly, she'd learnt her lesson about the work she could do from home. There was no point doing it in one sitting as it left you the rest of the day to be bored. Anthea decided to do half in the morning and to do the other half in the afternoon. That way more might build up over the time between and it kept Anthea's brain stimulated in a way only doing work for Mycroft could.

In between those times would be doing other tasks like getting everything ready for the baby, or reading, or cooking. That way she wouldn't get bored with anything. That way it was all spread out and it would be fine. She felt a little like she was at work organising her schedule but that was probably a good thing and exactly what she needed right now as she adjusted to not being at work.

On most days she'd tried to make herself a healthy as possible lunch as long as they had the food for it. If not she'd use it as an excuse to get out and have something somewhere out that maybe wasn't as healthy. Except Tuesdays of course, that was now Jamie's lunch day. That also meant that the work blocks would be altered too. Oh, and Fridays like today. Anthea also decided she needed something a bit lively at the end of the week to bring back some of her vibrancy…

Anthea didn't knock on the office door, why would she? She let herself in. Katie was sitting at Anthea's desk, typing away on her computer. It was strange to see, it felt so foreign and wrong. Imagine if it wasn't someone Anthea knew and trusted there, it would feel horrendous. Katie glanced up and was surprised to see Anthea. Her eyes light up and she sat up straight.

"Hey!" She said. The young girl's voice was light with surprise. Anthea smiled coyly.

"Hi." She responded. She walked forward into the office space. Katie folded her arms and leant forward on Anthea's desk.

"You're not here to check up on me already, are you?" Katie asked with a frown on her face. "Because I'm doing fine." Anthea couldn't blame her – it was only her second day here and here Anthea was again. Katie wanted a chance to prove herself. So Anthea's smile softened and she shook her head.

"I'm here to check up on Mycroft, actually." She said playfully. Katie relaxed and leaned back in the chair. Anthea nodded to the door besides the desk. "Is he in?" She asked. Katie nodded.

"Hasn't left." She said.

"No meetings soon?" Anthea asked.

"You know that." Katie looked at her bluntly. Anthea bit her lip playfully to stop from verbally laughing.

"Checking if something has come up and been added to the schedule." She explained.

"Oh!" Katie perked up again. She looked at the screen quickly then back at Anthea. "No." Anthea smiled.

"Thanks, Katie." Anthea said. She knocked on the door, waited a few seconds, and entered.

Mycroft didn't appear to be doing much in the office but that was just outwards appearances. The way he sat with his fingers pressed against his lips staring into space that genius could either be solving a massive problem or thinking about something absolutely trivial. Anywhere in between too, Anthea supposed. She laughed quietly as she walked in.

"Solving world hunger?" Anthea asked, gaining Mycroft's attention. His brilliant blue eyes flickered up and his gaze was on hers. She tilted her head to the side. "Hello." She hummed.

"Hello." He hummed back in an equally loving tone. He stretched out his arms and took a deep breath. "I was doing something like that." He feigned a smile at Anthea. Anthea watched as Mycroft silently rearranged a few files and writing utensils on his desk. "And why are you here?" He asked.

"I wanted to see you." Anthea pouted.

"Oh." Mycroft got out of his chair immediately. Suavely he walked over to Anthea, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a quick gentle hug. Anthea leaned into it and took in the scent of Mycroft, this office, and his cologne. "That's a lie," Mycroft released Anthea, smiling at her gently. "Sweet, but a lie." Anthea scoffed. She swatted him on the check but ended up straightening the lapels on his jacket and leaving her hands on his chest.

"I wanted to see if you wanted to go have lunch with me." She said.

"Ahh." Mycroft took Anthea's hands in his own and lowered them from his chest. He didn't let go of them, simple held her hands in the space between them. "So you're using me because you're bored?" His eyebrows danced up and down as he impishly accused his girlfriend.

"No." Anthea laughed. She took her hands out of his. "That's not the only reason." She smiled. Mycroft laughed. "I'm also looking out for you." She shrugged her shoulders. "Making sure you eat something today and see a bit of sunlight instead of staying in here."

"Is that so?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. Anthea nodded. "How very valiant of you." He purred. It sent a shiver down Anthea's spine.

"I know." She teased.

"Very well." Mycroft walked towards the door separating them from Katie. He placed his hand on the handle and turned back to Anthea. "I shall reward your kind behaviour by allowing you to take me to lunch and then paying for it myself." Anthea nodded triumphantly and confidently.

"Thank you, sir." She said. He pulled the door open and with a swish of his arm gestured for her to leave first. "Oh, and this is going to be a weekly thing." Anthea said as she walked past him. She just caught him rolling those steel eyes of his.

"I thought as much, my dear."

At least that was something to look forward to at the end of every week.

Author's Note: How was it? Just a little somewhat happy chapter to get us through the week. Let me know what you thought. Thanks to our guest reviewers; Madalina, and Guest. Thank you to all my lovely readers and reviewers. I'll probably need a week to get something together that is okay so see you then.